Delivering groceries to at-risk individuals

Manager of Farmington’s TD Bank Ryan Goding was recognized by the campaign #TDThanksYou for his community efforts in organizing a group of volunteers that delivered groceries to at-risk individuals during the pandemic. TD Bank awarded Goding funding to go towards kickstarting his faith-based nonprofit. Photo Courtesy of TD Bank

FARMINGTON — Local resident Ryan Goding was recently recognized by his employer, TD Bank for his community efforts in organizing a volunteer grocery delivery network for senior citizens and immune-compromised individuals during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Just to meet him in person, I feel really happy and priviledged to make his acquaintance because he’s really a special person,” TD Bank Regional President for Northern New England Sheryl McQuade said about Goding in a phone interview.

TD Bank runs an annual campaign called #TDThanksYou which allows its employees to nominate a fellow colleague, a client or a customer who is serving their community.

“Its actually quite unique and we’ve been doing it for a while. I believe we’re in our eighth year of the TD Thanks You effort and it’s really a way for our team to give back to customers, colleagues and communities,” McQuade said.

In March, Goding rounded up volunteers from the church where he serves as pastor, Summit Faith Community, and to people in the greater Farmington community that would be willing to shop for those at-risk. People would call Goding with their lists which he would send to an appropriate volunteer through a private Facebook group.

“Everybody banded together and went and did those grocery runs and deliveries for folks in our community and we did that up through June this year when things started opening up a little more and people started going back to work,” Goding said in a phone interview.

The delivery system also partnered with the Care and Share Food Closet located on Fairbanks Road in Farmington. Executive Director of the food pantry Leiza Hiltz-Scerbo said that Goding’s volunteers made a huge impact for those that were not able to secure transportation to pick up their monthly food supplement boxes.

“If we had somebody that needed a delivery during that time, I could send him an email and within 24 hours he had a volunteer out delivering it, so it was awesome,” Hiltz-Scerbo said in a phone interview. “They filled in for a lot of the deliveries that we regularly did, but we didn’t have the volunteers to do it at that time.”

The Care and Share Food Closet in Farmington provides clients with a monthly supplement box that includes produce, dairy, meat and packaged goods. Volunteers deliver these boxes when they can, but they said Goding’s group of volunteers has been extremely helpful during the pandemic. Andrea Swiedom/Franklin Journal

Goding estimates that his group of volunteers delivered groceries to over 50 people, with some calling regularly for assistance to the point where he had their lists memorized. While the group has slowed down its efforts recently, Goding anticipates reinitiating the delivery network if there is another shutdown.

Volunteers at the Care and Share Food Closet said they are eager to see Goding’s network return with their delivery services as they said that recent cuts to federal unemployment has caused an increase in clients needing assistance. The food pantry has also expanded its territory to 27 towns during the pandemic in response to other food closets decreasing their hours or shutting down completely.

To celebrate Goding’s community efforts, McQuade visited the Farmington TD branch where Goding is manager and surprised him with a congratulatory party alongside the employees who nominated him. Goding had no knowledge that he had been nominated in TD’s campaign nor that he was one of the bank’s 30 winners until the party.

“I was pretty shocked and I was overwhelmed, but I was also a little humbled because I really feel like I am not somebody who likes to be in the spotlight or wants recognition,” Goding said. “I am trying to always make sure that other people are getting the attention so the fact that it was sort of about me was a little overwhelming to be honest with you.”

TD Bank awarded Goding with funding to go towards equipment that will help him launch a nonprofit centered around assisting families with understanding their faith and educating their children.

For more information regarding food assistance and volunteer opportunities at the Care and Share Food Closet, call (207) 778-2331. The pantry is open from 12 to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays and is located at 508 Fairbanks Road.